Regaining Confidence
by AdventureAddict
Summary: Oneshot. Al still has a few things to relearn now that he has his body back. But just as it's always been, Ed will be there to support him. Who knew that being 'normal' again could be so scary?


Okay, short idea I had while riding my bike today. I won't bore you all with the details, I'll just get it started. If you want me to babble on about my story in my author's note, go read my other stories. Nyah.

Regaining Confidence

"Brother, I can't do this," Al said shakily, climbing back down onto solid ground. His knees knocked nervously together a few times as he thought in horror about what he had almost done.

"Sure you can Al," Ed assured him. "Riding a bike is easy." He held the handlebars steady and nudged Al back towards the hot black seat. Ed looked great in the sun, better than he had looked in years. For the first time since their human transmutation, Ed was actually wearing shorts and a T-shirt, no longer afraid of showing off his arms or legs. They were finally back in Resembool, and hopefully they would stay there now, since they both had complete bodies and Ed had quit the military.

"Easy for you to say, you can ride one!" Al took another step backwards, looking suspiciously at the bike. Sure, it looked innocent now, but as soon as he got on, it would a knee-scraping machine of horror. They had been having a good summer up until today. Then Ed had gotten this wild idea in his head about re-teaching Al on how to ride a bike. Al wished he had just stayed with the water balloons in the backyard.

"Oh, come on Al," Ed pleaded. "You used to ride your bike all the time, remember?" Al nodded, nervously rubbing his hands together. "I wanted to ride bikes together the whole time you were in that armor, but I didn't bring it up because I knew you were too big. So could you just try it? Please?"

Al looked nervously between Ed and the bike, and then back at Ed again. "Promise you won't let me fall?" he said uncertainly.

"Promise."

"Okay," Al said slowly, climbing onto the seat. Before setting his feet on the pedals, he made sure that Ed had one hand securely on the handlebars, and the other resting snugly on his back. Al slowly put his feet on the pedals and then started moving down the sidewalk, gaining confidence with every foot.

Ed smiled at his brother, the blue paint of the bike sparkling between them in the sunlight. Ed was now jogging slowly in order to keep up with Al. His braid whipped back behind him, and Al's short tan hair rippled in the wind. Ed started to slightly pull his hand away from Al's back, but Al looked back at him with a horrified look, and he quickly put it back.

"Al, you're going to have to eventually ride without me holding on to you," Ed panted, now in a full out sprint in order to keep up with the bike.

"Don't let go, Brother!"

"I can't keep up," Ed wheezed, his sweaty grip on the handlebar loosening.

"Brother!" Al cried, shooting off into the distance with Ed standing still and watching him from behind. Al stuck out both his feet defiantly and ground to a stop. Ed smiled at the same stubbornness that shone out in him at moments and unhurriedly walked forward with slow breaths. They were brothers all right.

When Ed finally caught up with him, slow tears were making their way down his cheeks. Al reached up and grabbed Ed in a hug, his feet planted firmly on the ground and his warm tears slowly making their way through Ed's thick shirt.

"You scared me Brother," Al choked out, the words getting stuck on the tears as they made their way out.

"I can't always be running next to you," Ed said slowly, putting a hand out to pat the younger boy's trembling head.

"Yes, you can," Al said stubbornly, snuggling even deeper into Ed's shirt. Ed laughed slightly, the sound shaking Al's head.

"No, I won't," he protested, and then added before Al could say anything else, "Besides Al, you remembered how to ride a bike. You wouldn't have been going that fast if your body didn't remember it." Al looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I guess so," he mumbled, looking back at the blue paint of the bike.

"Ed! Al!" a distant voice called out, and the two brothers turned to look, with Al still trembling slightly and cling to Ed's sleeves. It was Winry, racing down the sidewalk towards them, her golden hair flying out behind her.

"Grandma told me that you were going to re-teach Al on how to ride a bike today," she said, striding up next to them. Ed gently nudged Al off his arm and looked over at her. "So how's it going?"

She was wearing a bright green dress that went well with the mood so far that summer. A floppy hat kept the sun out of her eyes, but it didn't prevent Ed from seeing the large smile she was directing towards him and Al. Something in the back of his mind wondered how she could be so happy when she had lost one of her most frequent repair jobs.

"He's doing great," Ed replied with a smile. "In fact, we're both doing great."


End file.
